This invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus and indication control method for the apparatus.
In a conventional wireless communication apparatus, such as a key telephone apparatus comprising a main unit which accommodates at least one external line, a connection unit connected to extension side of the main unit and a portable telephone for performing wireless communication with the connection unit, the status of the external line(s) connected to the main unit is displayed at the portable telephone.
External-line LED indications of the above-mentioned conventional apparatus will be described below.
In the conventional key telephone apparatus, when any external line status changes, the main unit transmits an external-line status message 501 shown in FIG. 5, including the statuses of these external lines (hereinafter referred to as lines a to d), to the portable telephone via the connection unit. The portable telephone which has received the external-line status message 501 from the main unit, indicates the external line statuses by external-line LED's (hereinafter referred to as LED's a' to d') based on the external-line status message.
As this type of portable telephone for enabling communication while moving, uses a portable battery as power source. The telephone deactivates the external-line LED's for the sake of saving the battery power, if indications are not required.
In a case where the portable telephone is placed on a battery charger, it is not necessary to consider electric consumption of the batteries. For this reason, when the telephone placed on the charger receives an external-line status message from the main unit, the external-line statuses indicated by the external-line LED based on the message. In a case where the portable telephone is not placed on the battery charger and the telephone is not in communication status (i.e., the telephone is not used), external-line LED's are inactivated because LED indications do not take effect in this case. That is, to save electric consumption of the batteries, the telephone does not activate the external-line LED's even when it has received an external-line status message from the main unit.
However, in the conventional key telephone apparatus, when an END key of the portable telephone is pressed to quit communication and the portable telephone is placed on the battery charger after some interval, it operates as follows.
The external-line LED's a to d are all turned off at a moment the END key is pressed, and thereafter, even the portable telephone is placed on the battery charger, the telephone does not activate the external-line LED's until an external line status changes and an external-line status message from the main unit is received. This is inconvenient for a user of the portable telephone. It should be noted that FIG. 15 is a the sequence chart of operation provided by the conventional key telephone apparatus.